Juan Agudelo has chosen to return home - more precisely, to the New England Revolution.
The 22-year-old skillful winger has elected to return to the MLS - something many Americans have done in the past term - after a disappointing 2014 that saw him on the verge of joining Stoke City only to never play for the Premier League side. Agudelo was loaned to FC Utrecht but failed to gain his form and wasn't much of a regular in the Eredivisie either, totaling 14 appearances and three goals.
Agudelo tried to reach a permanent deal with Stoke City but was never able to. His only chance to remain in Europe was to join Bundesliga 2 side 1860 Munchen but he declined the move so as a result, he has opted to return to New England Revolution hoping to discover his 2013 form while also trying to atract Jurgen Klinsmann's eye in the process. The deal is reported to be on the $400.000 range and will have a duration of four years although it wouldn't be a total shock if it has clauses that allowed him to make another run at an European dream in the near future.
The next big question for Agudelo is where he will play for The Revs. New England is coming off a strong season where they lost in the MLS Cup final against the Los Angeles Galaxy. The team is known for playing with a 4-5-1 formation and considering the great year Charlie Davies had, it would be hard to see him losing his starting spot only due to Agudelo's presence. Since he's adept to play all over the attacking line, a role on either wing seems more likely and he could have an even better year there as his pace and skill could be exploited by the accurate passes of Jermaine Jones or Lee Nguyen, just to name a few.
It may seem like a step back on his career, but returning to The Revs might be the best decision Agudelo has taken in the past two years.